A Figment of the Imagination
by Hayla
Summary: Doyle returns from the dead to save his best friend's family.


Disclaimer: Doyle and all the characters that appear on 'Angel' are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB, and Mutant Enemy, Inc. 

A Figment of the Imagination ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Hayla ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

This was an actual dream I had. Go ahead, call me weird, but I have this uncanny ability to dream up epic / feature film length dreams, and I remember almost every detail!! Weird... 

Okay.. a little background so you are not confused. A character in my dream was named Michael. He is Doyle's best friend. (yeah.. there was no Michael - Doyle's - Best - Friend in Angel, but what can I say. Dreams have the habit of incorporating strangers into dream - lines!!) 

Also good to note... Doyle is dead in this dream, despite how much I may have wished it otherwise. This story is in first person since for half of the dream I actually was Doyle.. plus it makes it a lot easier to write!! 

Well... enough with the prologue and on with the dream!! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I was sitting in my apartment. It was night time and I was getting ready to go out. Suddenly I collapsed over in pain. 

"Oh, for the love ah..." 

I grabbed my head, trying to make sense of the images I was receiving. I saw only the usual bits and pieces of what was going to happen. What I remember seeing were the bodies of my best friend Michael's family all in bloody pools, dead. In between the flashes of different people I saw a huge dark figure shadowing the bodies. I heard him laugh and then vanish. The last thing I remember in the vision was the face of my best friend's little sister, looking up, smiling. She clutched a small teddy bear in her hand. She, like the rest of the family, was dead. 

The vision finally stopped. I stood up in a daze, the after effects of the premonition. I thought about going to help the family, but I realized I couldn't. My best friend knew that I had died. How could I face him in my present 'living' form and save his family. 

Then it hit me. I could help out. I never really had met his family before. I had only seen them from far off or in pictures. They would have no idea who I was. This was good. Michael was away for the next couple of days, that's how come I did not see him in my vision. He had escaped the slaughter, and I could still go and help his family without raising to much suspicion. It could all work out. I formed a small plan in my mind. 

I grabbed my leather jacket from the chair and headed quickly out the door, determined not to let anything happen to Michael's family, especially his little sister. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I entered Michael's house a little apprehensive. I hadn't seen his car outside and I was sure that he wouldn't be back, but just being so close to my old life brought tingles down my spine and a lump in my throat. 

Michael's family was very wealthy. His father had struck it rich in the mines of Africa. He had come across a large area of rare jewels, mostly diamonds. His father went to Africa with nothing but a few tools and the clothes on his back, but he came back a multi-millionaire. 

The family owned a few jewelry companies now and were basically set for generations to come. I always remember wishing that I had that kind of security. 

Michael always made it a point not to make a big deal out of his family fortune. He was always sincere and never flaunted his wealth. I always appreciated that about him. Especially since my wealth wasn't so lucrative. 

His mother emerged from the dinning hall in the room next door. She was talking rapidly on the phone to some gossipy friend on the other side. She was not like Michael at all. She fit the image, to me anyway, of the stereotypical rich lady. She had multiple gold bracelets on her wrists and up her arms that jingled with every move she made. She wore huge diamond earrings and her fingers were loaded with rings of sapphire, emerald, and of course diamond. I imagined that she probably weighed ten extra pound just wearing all that crap. 

Her hair was big, perfectly styled and hairsprayed meticulously in place. She had very long finger nails. She smiled when she saw me and asked the person on the other end of her phone call to hold on. 

"Hello," she said warmly as she reached out to shake my hand. I took her hand, being careful not to scratch myself on her very long nails. 

"I'm Mrs. Diamond," she introduced herself. I smiled. 'Diamond' was not her real last name. The family had adopted it as their business title. I guess it was hard not to bring that type of work persona home with you. 

"Doyle," I replied hastily. 

She withdrew her hand, smiling awkwardly. "So sorry about the nails, hon. I'll be with you in a minute." She continued her conversation on the phone and headed out of the room. I was relieved, I guess. 

I looked around the room. A chill ran up my spine. This was the room where it had happened, where it would happen. Slowly small bits of my vision came back. I touched the couch absently. It was pure white, as was the whole room, but it was covered with blood when I saw it last. I couldn't let it happen. I had to find out what that creature was that I saw in my vision and why it was after my best friend's family. 

I looked up to see a pair of blue eyes as big as saucers peering around the corner of the room. She was staring at me intently. For some reason I sensed that she knew what I was. She knew why I was there. 

"Hallo.." I began as I moved cautiously towards her. "How are you?" 

She gave a wicked sneer and backed off suddenly. She ran out of the room. Out of all of Michael's family, for some reason she was the one I felt I had to protect the most. I was about to go follow her when Mrs. Diamond re-entered the room. 

"You'll have to excuse Sarah," she said with a little annoyance. "She's real shy around strangers." 

I wished I could believe her, that the little girl's shyness was the reason that she ran off. But it just wasn't true. I knew through Michael that she wasn't shy at all. He had told me many a times about how she would get into places where she wasn't supposed to be. 

"Nah," I turned around and walked towards the mother. "I just have that affect on kids." 

"I doubt that!" She laughed and patted my shoulder. "Now, you said that you were here to see Michael?" 

"That's right," I lied. "I'm an old friend of his from school and I stopped into town for a visit." 

"Well, I'm so sorry, hon." She shook her head slowly. "Michael's out of town on business. He will not be arriving back till sometime tomorrow night." 

"Oh," I said, trying to put on the most pathetic face I could. "Well I guess I'll have to come back." I knew it was lame, but my plan just had to work. 

"Poor dear," she said, patting my face gently. "How far did you say you came?" 

I gave her the irresistible puppy dog eyes and pulled out all the Irish charm I could. "A very long way," I lied again. "I was hoping that he would be here to.... nah. Forget about it. I'll go." I turned to leave. 

"Don't be ridiculous!!!" She reached out her bracelet laden hand and grabbed my shoulder to turn me around. "You can stay here! I'll bring you to one of the guest rooms!" 

She encouraged me to follow her and we headed down the hallway where Sarah had just made her escape. I couldn't get the little girl out of my mind. I had to find her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Mrs. Diamond led me to a room a few doors down. I entered the doorway and looked around. It was rather large for a guest room. It had everything a man could want. It had its own bathroom and wetbar. 

"I'll save that for later," I thought. After all, what kind of Irishman would I be if I didn't at least take one drink? A huge king size bed stood in the middle. The sheets were silk and were folded neatly back upon a thick down quilt. 

I turned around with a grateful smile on my face. Everything was working out perfectly. I was invited to stay in Michael's house, and I could now keep a close eye on the family. I could protect them. 

"Thank you so much. This room is absolutely wonderful." 

She stood in the doorway and seemed pleased with herself. "Well, I wouldn't want any guest staying in a room that didn't provide all the comforts of home." 

That's when I noticed something. I looked past the doorway and I swear I saw the wall moving. A face seemed to protrude from within the white surface then it just faded away. 

Shocked, I slipped past Mrs.Diamond, pushing her out of the way a little, and starred at the wall. There was nothing there. The face, or whatever it was, had vanished. I touched the wall with my hand. Smooth as glass. "What the hell...." 

"Are you alright, dear?" A worried voice sounded from behind me. 

"Oh.....yeah." I turned around to give her a reassuring glance. "Everything's just fine, thanks." 

She nodded, not really sure if she trusted me or not. "Well then-" she began heading back down the hallway, "I'll just let you get settled in." I thanked her and quickly slipped back into the room. I couldn't tell her what I had seen. I wasn't there to terrorize the poor family. I just wanted to protect them. It was the least I could do for Michael. Hopefully I could 'do' what needed to be done without anyone being aware of it. 

My concerns with what was going on in the walls of the house soon faded away when I once again thought about Sarah. I knew where she was. I don't know how, but I just knew that she was hiding in the attic. I would have to go up and talk to her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I wasn't in my room long before I heard unfamiliar voices coming from the living room. I left my recently acquired quarters to go investigate. 

I moved stealthily down the well traveled hallway, hoping to spy on these newcomers. I was suspicious of everyone. I couldn't help it. I had to do everything I could to make sure that the massacre would never happen. 

A power that I now had that I really didn't have before was the ability to make myself invisible. I guess that's one advantage of being a 'living' ghost. Ever since I had 'died', I had been living a double life. That of the almost real flesh-and-blood, half demon Doyle that had migraines for visions, and then there was the other life. Doyle... the spook. It was quite frustrating really. 'The Powers That Be' wouldn't tell me what I was doing here, back among the living. Alive.... sorta. Yet, 'They' were persistent on the fact of me being a spirit. I would have to talk to them about that. 

Being a 'ghost' did have some advantages, though. This was one of them. I walked into the living room and saw four men standing there. None of them noticed me. (Then again how could they?) Three looked like your regular kids, run-of-the-mill Joes. More from my kind of class. The other was a big black hulk of a man. He just stood there and let the others yap away. 

"Whoa," said one of the three. "These people are loaded!" He was carefully inspecting his surrounding, noting the plush carpets and silken curtains. 

"Yeah," said another, "You know what we could do if we got ahold of some of their dough?!" He punched the shoulder of the kid next to him. They were both checking out the paintings that hung from the walls. 

The black man just stayed in the back, rolling his eyes a little. "We should just kill 'em all and have Michael collect the insurance," he said sarcastically. "Who knows, we might be doing him a favor." 

The other three snickered at the thought. I didn't like the sound of it at all. I knew that they were probably just throwing around wild ideas and all, but I got such a weird.... 'vibe'. 

That's when I saw Sarah. She was hiding behind the same corner she had been occupying earlier. Now here's the weird thing.... she was 'looking' at me. Imagine you knowing you were invisible to everyone, and then someone staring at you. It creeped me out. 

She turned and ran away again. This time I knew where she was heading and I was determined to confront her. She flew up the staircases toward the attic. Still in my 'ghost' form, I went through her and blocked the doorway to the attic. She screamed. I returned to my physical form and placed my hand over her small mouth. 

"Shhhhhhh, princess," I said soothingly, trying to calm her down. "I'm not gonna hurt you darlin'." 

She stared at me with her crystal blue eyes. It was then that I realized she wasn't really afraid of me. I withdrew my hand from her lips. 

She pushed a few strands of fallen blonde hair out of her face and stared at me menacingly. 

"I know what you are," she said defiantly. She then pushed me aside and entered the attic door, slamming and locking it behind her. 

I was confused, needless to say. There was something abnormal about her and I cursed myself for not being able to figure out what it was exactly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Mrs. Diamond lifted the tray from my nightstand and began heading out the door of my new room. 

"Thanks for everything, Mrs. Diamond," I said indicating the dinner and the room, "I really appreciate it." 

She nodded and turned to leave. 

"If you don't mind me asking," I continued, trying to pay no heed to the fact that she wanted to leave, "who were those men who stopped by earlier today?" 

She turned around with a little huff, but smiled when she saw the sincere look on my face. She laughed a little at herself. 

"Just some friends of Michael's," she stated matter-of-factly. "Like you, they just stopped by for a visit, but they left." 

"Have you ever seen them before?" I tried not to sound too concerned, but I really needed to know. 

She paused for a moment, trying to remember their faces. 'No, I really don't think so." Then she turned a quizzical eye to me. "Then again, I didn't know you either." 

I smiled. "Touché." 

I feigned a yawn. I really wasn't tired and I had no intention of falling asleep anytime soon, but I wanted to be alone to see if I could find out anything more about the weird apparition I had seen earlier. " 'Night, Mrs. Diamond." 

"Good night, Doyle." She turned and left. I was alone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

CRASH!!! 

No sooner had she left my room then I heard the tray and its contents fall to the floor. I quickly ran into the hallway. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 

Coming out from the white wall was the huge black man I had seen before. He had his hands wrapped around Mrs. Diamond's thin throat. She gasped desperately for air. 

Without thinking I rammed the creature. Big mistake. I bounced right off of him. At least he was startled enough to drop Mrs. Diamond. I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the hulking mass. 

"Are you okay?" I asked quickly, never taking my eyes off the huge black figure. 

"Yes," she gasped breathlessly. "Doyle..." She squeezed my hand tightly then fainted in my arms. I carefully placed her next to me and stood up to the creature. 

"All right," I said, trying to muster up the strongest and most forceful voice I could, "what the hell are you and what in God's name do you want with this family?!" 

He didn't say anything, he just stood there like he had before. With a quickness I hadn't expected for a thing of his size, he lunged in my direction. Without thinking, I transformed into my 'spirited' self and the black mass fell right through me. Another reason why I should thank "The Powers That Be". 

He was up in no time. 

"I'm here because they want it, " he replied. 

"Want what?!" I screamed back anxiously. 

"What she has!" The black man pointed down to the poor lady who was now oblivious to everything around her. 

"Oh, yeah," I shot back, "and what's that. Bad hair and claws for hands?!" 

Yet another mistake, he struck out suddenly, catching me off guard. His punch hit me hard. I had unconsciously switched back to my normal state. 

Thwack.. 

I hit the wall behind me hard. My head was pounding, my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest at any given moment. I got up on my shaky legs. Again, the figure charged. 

"This is gonna be one helluva night...." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

We fought for most of the night. Neither of us had gotten the upper hand. Though I have to admit, this guy was a lot stronger than I was. The only thing that probably saved me was the ability to change my state. Score one more for "The Powers That Be." 

I can't remember exactly how it happened, but I landed one hell of a hit on the big guys mouth. Before I knew it, he was gagging on his own blood. Seizing the advantage, I jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. 

By this time he was coughing more forcefully. I shook on top of the huge man every time he coughed. It was then that I noticed something white squirming out of his mouth. I touched it. It was....... a worm? 

"What the hell are you?" I questioned as I stared at the writhing form. 

"This is but one body..." was its reply. 

I pulled it out of the creature's mouth. No sooner had I done so then the body disappeared from underneath me. I held up the worm-like creature to my face. Not knowing what else to do, I stood up, threw the disgusting creature to the floor, and stomped it to death. 

I saw movement from the corner of my eye. Mrs. Diamond was getting up from the floor. She had watched the final battle and now stared at the mush that was the worm-demon. Her eyes filled with tears. 

"Thank you so mu--" She turned around only to find me no longer there. I turned into the phantom-Doyle again. It would be easier this way. She wouldn't be able to ask any questions, and with any luck, she would hopefully give it all up as a dream. 

I followed her into the dinning room where she sat at the table and wept. I wanted to stay with her for awhile, just to make sure she was okay. 

I was standing between the doorway to the dining room and the kitchen when I heard an unmistakable voice from behind me. 

"Mom," Michael called out in a concerned voice. 

I turned around to face my old friend. I was hoping that he could maybe see me.... but he didn't. He ran straight through me and hugged his frightened and weeping mother. 

"Shhh, mom, it's okay." He tried to comfort her. "What happened?" 

"There was... this.. creature," she began through heavy sobs. "It..oh, God....it tried to kill me. And then.....and then.." She looked up into her son's eyes. "Doyle...." 

"Doyle, mom?" Michael pulled back in confusion. 

"Yes..," she said in a small voice. "Doyle... he saved me..." 

"Mom," Michael began, tears forming in his own eyes, "Doyle is dead." 

She stopped crying for a moment, only to begin again in a few seconds. She reached out to her son and cried on his shoulders. 

He patted her hair, trying to comfort her. He didn't know why he did this but he looked at the doorway between the two rooms. 

"I've always known.." he said softly, then turned his head away. 

He was looking directly at me. I knew what he was talking about. Despite us being best friends and all, I had never told him about me being half demon. Those few words were a strange relief to me. But how did he know I was there? 

"It must run in the family." I thought, then headed outside. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I was not even two feet outside of the house when another vision struck me. Once again I grabbed my head, trying to block out all the pain and see the visions. My eyes shut tight, blocking the tears that were forming. 

I saw the bodies again. This time, I saw Michael among the bodies, all bloodied and beaten. The vision shifted. I saw Sarah. She was standing over the bodies of her family, gloating and laughing. Then it all stopped. 

I gasped at the sudden realization 

"This is but 'one' body...." 

I ran back into the house, not caring if everyone saw me. 

"Michael!!!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Get you sister, NOW!!!" 

Michael ran into the room in total confusion. "Doyle..." he said breathlessly. 

"No time to explain," I cut him off. "Where's you sister, where's..." I saw her. She appeared at the doorway, but took one look at me and quickly ran in the other direction I took after her full force. I now knew why she was staring at me so coldly, and how she saw me when no one else could. It all made sense now. I couldn't let her get away. I didn't hear Michael call out from behind me. I only had one thought in mind. 

I ran up the stairs, following her towards the attic. I reached out and grabbed her arm. I locked both her shoulders in my firm grip. I began to shake her. 

"Cough," I commanded, "Cough damn you!!!" 

By this time Michael had reached us. He tried to pry my hands from her. 

"What are you doing, man! Let her go!!" 

I pushed him aside. "I can't do it. You don't understand!" 

I dragged the screaming girl into the attic and locked the door behind us. 

Michael banged desperately at the door. "What are you doing to her!" 

Ignoring the noise, I turned my attention back to Sarah. I spoke more soothingly. "Sarah, I know you're in there, darlin'. Listen to me. You hafta fight it! Fight it!" 

"I..." her small voice was scared and confused. "I can't.... I don't know how." 

"Cough! Will it out of ya and cough! You're stronger than it is! Now cough!" 

She started coughing. Quietly, then more and more forcefully. I held her gently and rubbed her back encouragingly. "That's real good, darlin', real good. Keep it up!" 

Pretty soon I saw that disgusting white worm coming out of her mouth. I pulled it out and stomped it into the attic floor. 

The poor little one began to cry. I picked her up and patted her small head. "There, there, princess." 

By this time Michael had broken the door and was standing in the room. I walked over to him and placed the shaking child in her brother's arms. 

He took her gratefully, his own hands were shaking. He looked at me with fright and apprehension. 

"Th - thank you," he managed to stutter. 

We stood there for what seemed like an eternity. I could not even begin to imagine what he was thinking. His best friend, 'alive'? It would take a long time to explain. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A blood curdling scream was heard from downstairs. It was Michael's mother. 

What now. I thought to myself. This was getting to be a lot more than I bargained for. 

We raced down the stairs, towards the scream we heard only seconds before. I entered the living room first, followed closely by Michael who still clutched Sarah in his arms. 

"Oh, my God....." was all he managed to whisper. 

Before us a huge mass of the demonic worms were forming into a man.. They took the form of the black creature I had fought only a little while ago. It was standing over a frightened Mrs. Diamond who was on the floor, shaking with terror. His 'flesh' crawled with hundreds of worms, each one moving and twisting to form the appearance of a man. Even the very walls in the room rippled with worms. There were thousands of them. 

I grabbed Mrs. Diamond and pulled her to her feet. I started to drag her away but the creature reached out and seized her wrist. 

"We want what is ours," said the echoing voice. "Give it back to us!" 

I wrenched her out of his grasp and pulled her behind me. 

"Wha - what do I have.... that you could possible want?!" Her voice was filled with terror and she clutched my shoulders in an attempt to shield herself from the creatures stare. 

"We want the Sacred Rock, " it answered back in a fury. 

"What 'rock'?" I shot back in a rage. I was getting tired of riddles. 

The creature reached out its wormy finger and pointed to a huge blue gem that Mrs. Diamond wore on her index finger. I remembered the story that Michael told me about the stone. It was the first gem his father had found in the African mines. A very rare, very beautiful blue diamond. When he brought the jewel back home, he had it fashioned as an engagement ring. She had never taken it off... until now. 

I reached over and grabbed her hand from my shoulder. In a desperate rage I pulled the shining gem off her finger. 

"Have your bloody holy stone," I yelled, and threw the jewel at the monster. 

I heard Mrs. Diamond make a small whimper behind me. 

"Get out of here," I ordered. I glanced over my shoulder towards Michael and his sister. "You, too." 

He placed Sarah down. She ran together with her mother out of the house. Michael courageously came and stood beside me, not fully understanding what he was getting into. 

"Doyle," he began almost in a humor, "you've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do!" 

I smiled. "One thing at a time, mate." 

We stood there, in the face of momentous odds. I didn't know how I was going to defeat these creatures. After all, I had problems with just one, nevermind thousands! 

It made the first move. It swiped at both me and Michael. I quickly ducked, and Michael rolled swiftly out of the way. Caught a little off balance, I lunged at the creature, and proceeded to fly straight through it. I hit the ground, the air rushing out of my lungs. I turned around to see how I had missed such a big target. What I saw, I admit, frightened me. Where I was supposed to hit the creature was a big hole. Worms slowly regained form, re-weaving the infested flesh. The creature just turned around and sneered. 

"What's so important about that old rock anyway?" I questioned, trying to buy some time so I could catch a second wind. 

The creature squeezed the gem in its fist. "It is sacred to my kind," it replied harshly. "It is the source of the ancients and their knowledge." 

"Well, now that you got it, couldn't you just....leave?" I already knew that the answer to that was a definite 'no'. 

"This sacrilege must be avenged!" It moved in, ready to attack again. 

Michael choose that moment to make his defensive attack. He jumped on the creatures back. It merely reached around, grabbed Michael by his shirt, and threw him viciously against the wall. He landed with a sickening 'thump'. His body slowly sank and laid in a lifeless heap on the floor. He was unconscious. 

"Michael..." I ran over to help my friend only to be blocked by the monster. It pulled back and let a punch fly. I tried to phase like I had done before, but I wasn't fast enough. I landed a few feet away, my lower lip swollen and bloody. 

I got up instantly, surprising myself. Words suddenly came to me. I don't know how I knew them, but I had a darn good idea who they came from. 

"Dominette.. exuent.. bellum nubre," I began the incantation, divinely instructed, "Tellum de rammen.." 

The creature began to convulse and drew back. "No..." 

I continued the seeming nonsense with more force, stepping closer to the worm - demon with every word. "Tubben.. callum rai.. nocturo! Dominette.. exuent.. bellum nubre..." 

The figure began to dissolve, the worms loosing their hold on the form. The walls slowly stopped moving, their unnatural inhabitants squirming toward the ground. 

"Tellum de rammen!! Tubben.. callum rai.. nocturo!!!" 

The creature melted; its slimy remnants formed in thick puddles on the floor. It then seeped through the floor, taking its 'precious' stone with it, perhaps back to Africa. I didn't know. I really didn't care. With those few 'words', it was gone. 

It was all over. 

"Well...." I said breathlessly. "All right then..." 

I heard a small moan from across the room. Michael was regaining consciousness. I went over and kneeled by my best friend. Slowly, he blinked open his watery eyes. 

"Doyle.." he said, a little dazed. He looked up at me in a stunned stare. "This is a nightmare." 

"Yeah," I agreed eagerly. I touched his shoulder gently. Leaning forward I whispered into his ear, slowly phasing away from his sight, "And I'm just a figment of your imagination..." 


End file.
